And, by the same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for the Day of Judgment, and perdition of ungodly men. It is not that the Lord is slack concerning the promise of His return, but that He is still exercising grace, not wishing any to perish, but that all should come to repentance. And a thousand years are to Him but as a day, and a day as a thousand years. But the day of the Lord shall come, in which all things will pass away, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and all that is on the earth shall be consumed. Solemn consideration for the children of God, to maintain them in complete separation from evil, and from all that is seen, looking for and hasting the day in which the heavens shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Everything on which the hopes of the flesh are founded shall disappear for ever.

Nevertheless, there shall be new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness shall dwell. It is not here said, "shall reign," which would be the thousand years of the Lord's dominion; here it is the eternal state, in which the government, that has brought all things into order, will terminate, and unhindered blessing will flow from God, the kingdom being given up to God the Father.

It is in following out the ways of God in government that the apostle carries them on to the eternal state, in which the promise will be finally accomplished. The Millennium itself was the restitution, of which the prophets had spoken; and, morally, the heavens and the earth had been changed by the imprisonment of Satan and the reign of Christ. See Isa. lxv. 17, 18, Jerusalem having been made a rejoicing. But, materially, the dissolution of the elements was necessary for the renewal of all things.

It will be observed, that the Spirit does not speak here of the coming of Christ, except to say that it will be scoffed at in the last days. He speaks of the day of God, in contrast with the trust of unbelievers in the stability of the material things of creation, which de pends, as the apostle shows, on the word of God. And, in that day, everything on which unbelievers rested, and

will rest, shall be dissolved and pass away. This will not be at the commencement of the day, but at its close; and here we are free to reckon this day, according to the apostle's word, as a thousand years, or whatever length of period the Lord shall see fit.

So solemn a dissolution of all that the flesh rests upon should lead us so to walk as to be found of the Lord, when He comes to introduce that day, in peace, and blameless; accounting that the apparent delay is only the Lord's grace, exercised for the salvation of souls. We may well wait, if God makes use of this time to rescue souls from judgment, by bringing them to the knowledge of Himself, and saving them with an everlasting salvation. This, the apostle says, had been taught by Paul, who wrote to them (the Hebrew believers) of these things, as he did also in his other epistles.

It is interesting to see that Peter, who had been openly rebuked before all by Paul, introduces him here with entire affection. He notices that Paul's epistles contained an exalted doctrine, which they who were unstable, and not taught of God, perverted. For Peter, in fact, does not follow Paul in the field on which the latter had entered. This, however, does not prevent his speaking of Paul's writings as forming a part of the Scriptures; "as also the other scriptures," he says. This is an important testimony; which, moreover, gives the same character to the writings of one who is able to bestow this title on the writings of another.

Let Christians, then, be watchful, and not allow themselves to be seduced by the error of the wicked; but strive to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory, both now and for ever, Amen!

No. XIV.

WORDS IN SEASON.

EVERYTHING is beautiful in its season, and truth is healthful to the soul, when ministered in season and in

measure.

New wine must be put into new bottles. The Lord had many things to say to His disciples, while He was with them; but they could not bear them then, and, therefore, He did not say them. When the Spirit of Truth came, they received those things in His teaching, together with a power to bear them.

All this may show us, how the fitting time and proportion are to be observed, when the ministry of the word of God to the soul is waited on. And this And this suggests to me the remembrance of Apollos at Corinth; for it has long been my impression, that his ministry there did

mischief.

His qualities as a teacher suited the Grecian or Corinthian taste, and the Corinthian saints were attracted. Paul was among them a little before Apollos, and Apollos's eloquence seems to have fascinated the natural, human mind of those Grecians; so that Paul, "rude in speech," came to be somewhat undervalued. Not that there was any wrong purpose in Apollos. But he may have gone to Corinth a little hastily, or without due advisement as before God; for we read simply, "that he was disposed to pass into Achaia." It was a disposition of his mind that led him to Corinth; and then we may gather, from Paul's 1st epistle to the Corinthians, that he had captivated the minds of many there, and that there ensued division and mischief (Acts xviii. xix.).

Thus, with right desires, we may be very unwise in conducting our ministry. With the Lord, however, as a minister (as I need not say), all was perfect; and it is refreshing to mark such perfection, as it is all His glories.

The link between Him and His disciples, in the days of His sojourn among them, was that which personal attraction formed. They had no such knowledge of Him through the light and understanding of scripture, as would have bound them to Him. He had, the rather, to rebuke them again and again, for making many a mistake through ignorance of it. Their gathering round His empty sepulchre, among other circumstances, witnesses this to us. Had they been acquainted with the word, they would not have been there; for they would have known that He was not there. But they were there, just because they clung to Himself by strong personal attraction, and just because they knew not the scripture, that He must rise from the dead.

And

The remembrance of Him was more to them than converse with all beside. The dead body of her Lord was much more to the heart of Mary Magdalene than a crowd of living associates; yea, than the angelic glories of Heaven, as John xx. will tell us. How might such a loving heart breathe out that beautiful epitaph: "O quam minus cum aliis versari, quam tui meminisse." when we ponder this for a moment - when we think of God forming a personal link between Himself and us, grace shines before us! what a secret is disclosed! The Lord would have our hearts to know Him as an object; and surely, by that, He lets us know that He has us as His objects, and what crowning grace is that!

what

But though, during the days of His abiding with them, the disciples were thus kept by Him through force of personal attraction, yet, when He had risen from the dead, and rejoined them, "He opened their understandings, that they might understand the Scripture;" and then He gave them (as we speak) a lecture upon scripture, saying to them," Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." This was the forming of a new link between Him and them. Personal attractions, as we aid, have already formed one; Scripture, and the knowledge of it, was now to form another.

What beautiful and well-ordered husbandry, under the ministry of Christ, this is! All was in season; the early and the latter rain doing their service to the soul.

We may also notice the way of the Spirit's wisdom as a Teacher in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

In the day of their illumination, the Hebrew saint were willing to take joyfully the spoiling of their goods They were happy under a fresh apprehension of Christ and joy, as it always does, proved to be their strength But with all this, they were not established in truth, and thus were shaken, as the whole of the Epistle lets ut learn; and the apostle has to bring truth to them, that they might have whereby to stand, and wherewith to meet the seduction that was threatening them. They had been already happy and confident the truth he brings was that which gave them title to be so; for the Spirit, through him, would lay firmer foundations thar the joy which waited on the day of illumination; tha was beginning to betray its insufficiency.

And so with the Galatians.

They were so happy; their "blessedness" had been such, that they would have given their eyes to the apostle. But in time, like the Hebrews, they also were shaken. Nay, more; they were "bewitched," seduced from the truth of the Gospel, though their first estate had been so full of blessedness; and the apostle has to feed them with truth, tell them afresh of the grace and liberty of the Gospel, as though the whole work had to begin again.

Surely all this has a voice in our ears. It tells us that the Spirit of God does not commit the saints to mere "illumination" or "blessedness." Such conditions of soul have to be confirmed by truth and instruction. The infant blossom of the soul was beautiful; but it had to be sustained by further husbandry, ripened into strength and fruitfulness.

Now all this, I surely judge, has a voice in the ear of this day, through which we are passing. Many, many souls are now freshly awakened under a ministry that attracts, rather than instructs. The joy of "illumination" and of "blessedness" is abroad. But all this